Bullying and Epigenetics: Stick, Stones, and EpigenomesMay 6, 2013Stress. We all know it’s not good for you. About a decade ago, Dr. Michael Meaney’s and Dr. Moshe Szyf’s research group from McGill University made some pioneering breakthroughs in the field while examining the effects of early life stress on the epigenome of rats. Since then the field has been booming, however most studies […]
The Future of lncRNAs with Dr. John RinnMay 2, 2013Dr. John L. Rinn from Harvard University and the Broad Institute (Harvard and MIT) is a prominent researcher in long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and agreed to sit down and discuss his perspective on the intersection of lncRNA and epigenetics. EpiGenie: You’ve mentioned that you feel knockout models are going to play a key role in the […]
RNA Methylation in lncRNAs Does XISTApril 24, 2013Building on work from the 1970s, the era of orange shag carpet and bell bottoms, researchers report that poly(A) RNA gets methylated on cytosines, just like other RNAs and DNA. These methylated cytosines—in the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) HOTAIR and XIST—could also be important for their functions. Methylated cytosines in DNA are old news, and […]
5-hmC as a Cancer DiagnosticApril 24, 2013We’ve heard that DNA methylation can get messed up in cancer, but what about 5-hydroxymethylation (5-hmC)? In a recent report, researchers say that 5-hmC profiles could serve as epigenetic signatures of cancer. The U.K. and Swiss team wanted to know if they could zero in on a signature or biomarker for liver cancer—specifically for liver […]
DNA Methylation Tells Splicing Machinery Where to CutMarch 21, 2013In a recent paper, researchers say that DNA methylation, nucleosomes, and the “GC architecture” of an exon and its flanking introns may actually act as a big “cut here” sign stuck to the DNA or RNA to show where splicing is supposed to happen. Evidence that DNA methylation and nucleosomes are linked to splicing has […]
Chromatin Modifications in EnhancersMarch 20, 2013Enhancers serve as distal regulators of gene expression, but insights into the precise mechanisms of enhancer chromatin modifications are still lacking. In this recent review, Calo and Wysocka summarized various enhancer-associated modifications and propose how these modifications regulate enhancer activity during development. Here are some of the key topics discussed: The Enhancer Chromatin Landscape Enhancers […]
DNA Methylation in Cancer Goes the Distance via EnhancersMarch 14, 2013We like having all the important things close by—a stash of chocolate, a latte, and the remote control. But sometimes important things are far away. Take enhancers, for example. Enhancers are often pretty far from the genes whose transcription they are “enhancing.” And now, it turns out that DNA methylation at these enhancers can affect […]
EpiGenie Book Reviews: EpigeneticsMarch 11, 2013If you’ve spent any time browsing the EpiGenie site, then you already know that we find epigenetics pretty interesting. So, of course any book with the title of Epigenetics is going to grab our attention. Epigenetics edited by Jörg Tost, gathers information from several top scientists working in various facets of epigenetics to assemble a […]
Correcting Brain Tissue Heterogeneity with DNA MethylationFebruary 28, 2013A few weeks ago, we highlighted some great work that has been very useful in helping correct for heterogeneous cell populations in blood. Now, we’ve just got wind of a clever new bioinformatics tool to correct for heterogeneity in the brain. Researchers have studied DNA methylation in brain tissue to see if there’s an association between that modification and […]
EpiGenie Reviews: RNA Interference and Viruses – Current Innovations and Future TrendsFebruary 11, 2013RNA interference (RNAi) was first discovered in 1998 and has sparked new innovations and novel research tools for biological research ever since. RNAi has the scientific community buzzing because of it’s huge potential to tackle some of our most dreaded viral infectious diseases, like hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). But there […]